Bleeding Multiverse
by David-El
Summary: A young hero from another Earth decides to move to Earth-16 and join Young Justice. But what he doesn't realize is that he will cause more trouble for them, because the door between the two universes . . . doesn't completely close. On Hold!
1. Prologue: Origins of the Multiverse

**A/N:** Just to warn you, this IS nothing more than a prologue, giving a little background before the actual story begins. Also, most of this prologue is the background of the Multiverse as seen in the comics for those readers that aren't familiar with the comics. Oh, and I own almost nothing in this story. I do own Marvel Earth-617, David Rosen/Shade (featured in my Smallville story _The Veritas Saga_,) and Tony Richards/Torch.

**Bleeding Multiverse**

**Prologue: Origins of the Multiverse**

The universe holds many secrets. One of the greatest of these is the fact that _we are not alone_. No matter what scientists tell you, we are not alone. We are not alone, because this is not the only universe. There is in fact an infinite number of universes. In one universe, humanity is alone in sentience, in another it is just one of countless sentient species. In one universe, humanity must trudge along with no real heroes, and must look to fiction to inspire us. However, what is fiction in one universe, is reality in another. Our Prime universe is a universe where humanity is alone and has no heroes except in fiction, and the most famous fictional heroes are those of the American comic book. And the greatest comic book heroes were usually found on the pages of comics belonging to two companies: Marvel and Detective Comics/DC.

The Prime DC universe's age of heroes began in the 1930's, with the rise of the Last Son of Krypton in the city of Metropolis. Within 20 years, many of DC's greatest heroes joined together to create the Justice Society of America. In the DC Multiverse, heroes were loved and treated as heroes. Then, in 1985 DC's multiverse had collapsed due to an extremely powerful villain known as the Anti-Monitor in an event known to us as the Crisis on Infinite Earths, only to be partially recreated 20 years later in 2005 during the Infinite Crisis. The new DC Multiverse consisted of only 52 different universes, each one unique, yet similar to the Prime Earth of DC's multiverse. It is DC's Earth-16 that this story shall focus on, but not yet.

First, we must look at DC's competitor, Marvel. The Prime Marvel Earth's age of heroes began in 1942 when a young man named Steve Rogers took an experimental formula that put him at the peak of human potential, creating the hero known as Captain America. Unlike their counterparts in the DC multiverse, the Marvel heroes were for the most part feared and despised, despite their many heroic deeds, and their multiverse never suffered a collapse. However, they experienced their own tragedy only a few months after DC's Infinite Crisis.

On July 13, 2006 Marvel Earth Prime (officially Earth-616) was rocked when a team of young heroes called New Warriors took on a group of super villains, a confrontation that ended with the death of nearly 1,000 men, women and children. The event would forever be known as the Stamford Disaster. In response to the Stamford Disaster, public opinion against superhumans rose dramatically, and on July 25, Congress created the Superhuman Registration Act. The same day, Maria Hill, director of the government division SHIELD, approached Captain America and asked him about the heroes he expected to fight registration, and to join SHIELD in the battle against them. He turned them down, and immediately chose to side with the anti-Registration heroes. On September 15, exactly at midnight, the Registration Act was signed into law.

For nearly a month, a silent war was fought between Captain America and his Secret Avengers, vs. Tony Stark/Iron Man and SHIELD. But on October 6, it became a true war, a Civil War between the heroes, and the Civil War claimed it's first casualty in Goliath, a hero that could become forty stories tall with proportional strength. The Civil War raged on for months, with the numbers and people constantly changing. Many Secret Avengers were captured by the government forces, and many pro-Registration heroes joined the Secret Avengers, the most prominent being Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Then, on January 17, 2007, the two sides met for the final time. The final battle was fought just outside the Baxter Building in New York City and ended when Steve Rogers saw how much damage they'd caused, and surrendered.

From the beginning, the DC and Marvel universes had almost never interacted, and those few times they had it was on accident, but things were changing. By 2003 on Earth-16 of the DC Multiverse, the first heroes showed up: Kal-El/Superman, David Rosen/Shade, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana/Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and Barry Allen/Flash, and the next year they form the Justice League. On Earth-617, an Earth nearly identical to Earth-616, the events of the Marvel Civil War played out nearly the same, but exactly three years after the Civil War ended, on January 17, 2010, Anthony Peter Richards was born to genius Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Susan Storm/Invisible Woman. Tony Richards may not have been a genius like his father or namesakes, but he was going to do something no one else had done . . .

**A/N:** If you want to read about how the Earth-617 Civil War went, read _Not a Typical Civil War_ by Clownwithachainsaw. He took the Civil War, and gave it a purpose, and an ending that satisfies both sides of the war. I recommend it to everyone, it's a great read, and as he says, it's how the Civil War _should_ have been done.


	2. Secret Origins

**Bleeding Multiverse**

**Chapter Two: Secret Origins**

My name is Anthony Peter Richards, my friends call me Tony. I am the son of two of the most famous heroes on this Earth: Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Susan Storm Richards/Invisible Woman. But that is not the whole story of my origins. When my father found out that Mom wanted to have another kid, Dad decided to try to play God with my life by 'making the perfect son.' Instead of letting God do what he wanted with my genetics, he decided to do some engineering and give me as many abilities as possible, while also making me 'physically perfect.' He took a few genes from Peter Parker/Spider-Man in order to give me better agility and a metabolism that made sure I'd never gain too much weight. Dad also took a copy of the X-gene from Jean Grey/Ms Marvel in order to give me some telepathy. Then from both them and Anthony 'Tony' Edwards Stark/Iron Man, he took genes that he hoped would make me a genius. Finally, he took genes from Mom and Uncle Johnny/Human Torch in order to give me their abilities of flight, pyrokinesis, and force-field generation. And only after playing God did he allow the proto-me to be planted in Mom's womb. I was born on January 17, 2010, exactly three years after the end of our Civil War over the Superhuman Registration Act.

The manipulation to make a great superhero and son didn't stop there. Not long after I turned four, he started my training in martial arts, using his stretching ability to the max in order for me to learn quickly. The only escapes I had from his constant training were school and my comics. I only got a decent night's sleep when he had to go out on missions for the Avengers or as leader of the Fantastic Four. It got even worse when Dad accidentally discovered that I had a kind of reactive evolution ability that allowed me to become immune to toxins. From the time I was six to the day I left, I was exposed to a new toxin every month I was at home.

School was fairly safe, because it was there that I was truly allowed to be myself. I quickly became friends with the other kids like me, the kids with the potential to become the next generation of heroes: David Banner, Benny Parker, Jack Murdock, and other children of heroes. I became extremely close to Benny and was often a guest at the Parker home. But even there I wasn't completely safe, because despite Dad's best efforts, I was far from a genius. The only subjects I excelled in were writing, history, and gym. Not exactly the subjects one would expect someone carrying the genes from _three_ math and science geniuses would excel in, especially when two of them are Nobel Prize winners for their work.

The only place I was truly safe was when I was alone with my comics. When I opened the pages of the DC comics, it was the only place I was truly safe because I immersed myself in that world. I knew who everyone was, what their history was, their weaknesses and faults as well as the good things about them. Although they were fictional characters, they were probably my closest friends.

The day I turned ten, I met Dr. Steven Strange, sorcerer supreme, for the first time, and he said that I had some affinity for the mystic arts, and offered to teach me magic from the Book of Vishanti, to which I gladly agreed, anything to get away from my father, if only for a little while. Within a few months, I had memorized many of the spells in the Lesser Book of Vishanti, and by the time I was twelve I could work all of the spells with a 95% success rate.

I couldn't have had better timing to end my training with Dr. Strange, as that same year I started developing my abilities. For the last year of my training, I had been waking up _over_ my bed, and the day after I finished, I found myself flying up to the ceiling when Ben got stuck up there when his wall-crawling surfaced. Over the next year, I created force-fields for the first time, and I burned up my desk when I was fantasizing about Chloe Sullivan, my favorite character in a DC comics-inspired show, _Smallville_. (Oddly enough, instead of the usual red, yellow and orange flames, mine were shades of _blue._) And on my thirteenth birthday, my agility and telepathy kicked in, finally allowing me to beat Mr. Fantastic in a fight.

Ever since I first developed my abilities, I wondered if I should ever use them. Ben's dad often tried to convince me with his motto: "With great power comes great responsibility." Ben just told me to go with my heart: "Listen Tony, if you're going to join our parents in the vigilante business, then do it because you want to, not because someone told you to. Do it for the right reasons, reasons that you can believe in, support, and live with. If you don't, then you shouldn't be out there because you'd be a liability instead of an asset." Naturally Dad tried to push me towards the family business, and in an effort to convince me, him and Tony Stark created a nanotech suit that would respond to the user's thoughts, creating any uniform they wanted. In addition to that, it would enhance the users strength, could make you invisible, and would duplicate any tech-based abilities.

It was only when I finally agreed to put it on that Dad realized how much I truly despised him and his training. Instead of the family's uniform, I created a Blue Lantern version of Hal Jordan's uniform. That fall, there was a cartoon that premiered that would change my ideas about my future forever: _Young Justice_. For the first time, I found an animated DC show that featured my favorite character: Kon-El/Conner Kent/Superboy, and it was possible that he was _not_ the genetic son of Lex Luthor and Superman. As I watched _Young Justice_, I saw how lonely Kon was in it, and I was reminded of one of Strange's spells: a spell that allowed someone to cross dimensions. If it was possible, I was going to get away from my monster of a father and go to a world that I already love.

I'd always believed that the multiverse existed, but there was only one way to prove it. I went to Strange and asked if it was possible to pierce the barrier between our universe and theirs. "It may be possible, but the problem would be closing the barrier and getting you back. If you're willing to risk it, then I would be willing to test it."

"Alright, but first, I'd like to test it on another universe. Let's try DC's New Earth, around April 2009."

"Why that universe at that date?"

"Because I want a sample of Radion and compare it to things here. And April 2009 is around the end of the Final Crisis, the one time Radion is confirmed to be on Earth. A single Radion bullet was used to kill both Orion of New Genesis and Darkseid of Apokolips."

Strange nodded, obviously not completely understanding, and opened the doorway. "Your doorway will be open for about one day. You must be back here by then, or you risk being stuck there for the rest of your life." I nodded and stepped through. Although I knew about this world the most, I _really_ didn't want to be here, considering the Blackest Night was about to start in four months, (give or take a couple months) and I had no idea how to prevent it.

When I stepped through, I found myself in the middle of Central Park, exactly the same place I was when Strange opened the doorway. But there were differences. For one, there was no monument to the end of the Civil War here, and no Baxter Building. I found a newspaper, and the headline jumped out at me: **BATMAN ALIVE?** So, Dick Grayson has finally taken up the mantle of the Batman, which means I have a good chance to get the Radion bullet. But that also means that the Doc missed by a few months.

My first stop in this universe: Batcave, Wayne Manor, Gotham. I flew in, hoping to catch either Dick or Tim in there without having to involve Damian. I actually got lucky and caught _both_ of them in the cave. "You! Who are you and how did you get in here?" Batman was the one that asked the question, naturally.

"Don't worry, Dick, I'm just passing through. But I need your help."

"What did you call him?"

"Hi, Tim. I was hoping to meet you here. Just wish it was under better circumstances, and that I had more time to talk. But listen, I need the Radion bullet Bruce used to kill Darkseid about a few months ago."

"_How do you know our names?"_

"If you'll get the bullet, Dick, I'll explain everything to Tim here."

"No. I'm not going anywhere until you at least tell me why you need the bullet."

That's a Bat for you, extremely stubborn and suspicious. But then you'd need to be to live in Gotham, one of the worst cities for crime in America. Only Bludhaven is worse, unless you count it by number of psycho's. "Alright, since you asked. I'm from another universe and I need to have some Radion set aside because in my universe, Darkseid is still alive. I just need to scan it, then you can put it back Dick."

That seemed to satisfy Dick enough for him to get the bullet, cause he left me with Timothy Drake/Robin III. Or he at least trusted Tim enough to think that he could take care of me if I turned out to be an enemy. "Alright, what's that about another universe, and how's that fit in with you knowing our names?"

"That's easy Tim. In my universe, you're all characters in a comic book. I'm a big fan of you guys, especially you Tim, and Kon."

"Why did you have to mention Kon? He's been dead for about two years."

"I know, but he _will_ come back very soon, I promise. The Legion of Superheroes from the 31st century sent someone back to retrieve his body from his grave and put it in the regeneration matrix that saved Clark from Doomsday. It will take a thousand years for Kon to regenerate, where he'll come back just in time to help put a stop to Superboy-Prime permanently. After that, the Legion will send him back to this time period, where he'll be welcomed back at Titans Tower."

"Why are you telling me this? Why are you trying to give me false hope?"

"It's not false hope, Tim. It _will_ happen, just like I said. If you want proof, dig up Conner's grave. You won't find a body in there because it's in the Arctic being regenerated. As for why, I know how much you loved Kon, and I hated the fact that you had to suffer his loss. Just so you know, there were a lot of people in my universe that hated the fact that Kon died during the Infinite Crisis. Say, I've got a question I've been meaning to ask you for years now."

"What's that?"

"When you found out that Kon had some of Luthor's genes, why didn't you start carrying Kryptonite? You know, just in case Luthor had some kind of mind control phrase like he used just before the Crisis?"

That stopped Tim cold. Was it possible that he had never thought of doing that? "Actually, you're right, I didn't think of that. And yes, you did say that out loud. I never considered the possibility of a control phrase, because Cadmus said they didn't implant any before he escaped, so I doubted Luthor had. And I never carried Kryptonite before because Kon is my best friend, I loved him. I didn't think I'd have to carry it because I trusted him with my life."

"So, you do believe him Tim? What did it take?" Dick had returned, with the bullet I had asked for. Tim told Dick what I'd told him about Kon's return. "That's it? That's what it took for you to believe him? How did you last so long as a Bat?" That last part he whispered, but we both heard him.

"I can tell you both something else if you'd like. Dick, you're not going to be Batman long, not even a full three years. Bruce is alive."

"That's not possible. Darkseid killed him with his Omega Beams."

"No, he sent Bruce to the distant past. The corpse that Clark found and you guys buried is the body of a _clone_ that Darkseid had created. He was attempting to create an army of Batmen, but they all failed because of all the trauma that Bruce lived through. When Darkseid tried to download his history into their minds, they all snapped. The corpses quickly decayed, making Clark and the others think it was from the Omega Beams." While I was talking, I had the nanites that made up my suit scan the bullet.

When it was done, I prepared to leave, but Dick stopped me. "Where do you think you're going, kid? I'm not through asking you questions. Where did you come from? How did you know who we are? Why did you come here? How far into the future are you from?"

I sighed. "I already told you, Dick. I'm from a parallel universe where most of you guys are fictional characters. I'm from the year 2023, and I came here for the Radion, nothing more. And to give Tim here some hope. Speaking of which, could you give Hal and the other Lanterns a message for me? Tell them that the third verse is soon to be fulfilled. Tell them the Blackest Night is coming, and all the corps must unite in order to stop it. Tell them that Nekron will rise when the Black Rings of Death are fully charged, and that he'll rise at Coast City. There he will attempt to take over the resurrected. Oh, and one more thing. Tim, when Kon gets back, tell him how you feel. I'm betting that you'll be pleasently surprised." Then I became invisible and went back to the doorway.

When I returned and told Strange about the inaccuracy for the year, he told me that using magic to time travel is difficult at best. But when combined with traveling between universes, it was very unpredictable. For the next few months, I watched _Young Justice_, trying to decide the best time for me to leave, when to attempt to arrive, and when to reveal myself. When I finally decided, I gathered a bag I'd prepared just for such a time, a bag filled with clothes and other necessaries. I then went to Strange, and he opened the portal for me, giving me the same warning about having one day to come back before it closed. "Doc, if this is early enough, I won't be coming back. I'll send back a message if it is close enough. Tell my dad whatever you think best, but make sure to tell Mom the truth."

Then I stepped through the portal. The first thing I did was look for a newspaper. I eventually found one, saying that I was in Coast City, and the date was July 4th, 2011. I had arrived right on time. I bought a paper, and tossed it through the portal to act as my message to Dr. Strange, then I went out to see what time it was.

**Third Person POV**

So Tony Richards/Torch pierced the wall between multiverses to join his heroes. But what he didn't know was that while the door was fairly easy to open, it was far harder to close. The door between Marvel Earth-617 and DC Earth-1 had closed, but the door between ME-617 and DC Earth-16 did not close, and because it did not close, Torch would not be the only one to cross between dimensions. Others were coming, and most were not as benevolent as Richards . . .

**A/N:** A little foreshadowing there at the end. BUT for that part, I want YOUR HELP. Please, send me ideas for Marvel-like villains, when you want them to show up, and the circumstances. Be as detailed as you want with them, especially the circumstances. I welcome OC villains, but please give me DETAILS.


	3. Joining Up

**A/N:** Well, I've finally decided to stop waiting for my Beta and publish the next chapter. This chapter will mostly follow Independence Day, Fireworks, and Welcome to Happy Harbor, but with the addition of my two OC's. The italics when Shade is talking is because he uses a voice modulator to disguise his voice. I've never understood how people never figured out heroes identities by their voices, so I fixed that with Shade. If you're interested in Shade, please read The Veritas Saga in the Smallville stories, and Brother's Keeper: Shade's Justice in Green Lantern.

**Conversation Code:** "Normal Speech."

"_Altered voices/Robotic speech."_

_Telepathy_

**Bleeding Multiverse**

**Chapter Three: Joining Up**

**Coast City-July 4, 2011-10:15 PDT**

I quickly changed my suit into casual civilian wear and pulled on a bomber jacket, tennis shoes and fedora that I'd packed in my bag. First thing I had to do was figure out the time so I could know exactly what was going on. I had just entered Star Square when to my surprise, a wall of ice formed halfway between me and City Hall. I tried to think of an ice villain that attacked here, according to _Young Justice_, but I realized that only the most famous ice villains had been shown, or even mentioned. I quickly hid my bag and civvies and reactivated my costume. I took off over the ice wall to find out who had been responsible. The Justice Society's Icicle, maybe?

When I passed the wall, I froze in mid-air. This guy could have almost passed for a relative of Captain Cold, but I _knew_ that Cold was in Central City being beaten by Wally West and Barry Allen, if that hadn't happened already. Besides, this guy had black where Cold had blue, and a visor like Cyclops instead of sunglasses and a hood. And this guy was clearly a meta-human, creating the ice with his hands instead of a gun. Then I recognized him. Well, no wonder it had taken me a while, his girlfriend wasn't there. "Hey, Coldsnap! Where's Heatstroke? I thought you two were partners." Coldsnap was a little-known mercenary that was usually a member of the Masters of Disaster, and had a bit of a grudge against Black Lightning. But what was he doing here in Coast City? As far as I knew, Jefferson Pierce hadn't become Black Lightning yet, and neither of them had ever worked here, so why was he here?

"I got hired for this job alone, kid. Now beat it or I'll put you on ice." I just laughed at that. A number of people had said that to me before, including Bobby Drake and Magneto, but none had succeeded. "By the way, who are you? One of the Lantern's sidekicks? You kind of look like them."

"Yeah, something like that. Now, you said something about 'putting me on ice'? Give it your best shot, Snap." Snap took that literally, as he created an extremely long spear that he threw at me. I just barely managed to melt it before it hit me, but that was only the beginning. I was starting to wish that I hadn't told him to give me his best, this guy was far more dangerous than I'd thought he'd be from the comics. But then considering he didn't show up often, it _is_ hard to gauge his level of competence. I managed to melt another spear and another smashed against the force field I usually erected around myself for protection. "Alright, this has gone on long enough, Snap. How'd you like to get cooked?"

"HEY! If I'm going to get cooked, it's going to be by my girl, not some kid." He built up an ice wall around himself, but I just moved in and turned up the heat. Within thirty seconds, the wall was gone, and Coldsnap was starting to sweat. "You need to . . . cool . . . down . . . kid? HEY! Why . . . aren't my . . . powers working?" That was the last thing he said before he collapsed from the heat. I looked around and realized that I had drawn a bit of a crowd, so I took off and then activated the invisibility so I could retrieve my bag and clothes. But before I did, I noticed that the clock at City Hall said it was 10:30. Ten thirty? Great, that means that the other ice villains had all fallen more than an hour ago, and only half an hour before Rob and the others visited the Hall of Justice and about six hours before they made the fateful entrance into Project Cadmus. Great, there was no way that I'd make it there in time to join them to free Kon. BUT I could still help with their escape . . .

**Hall of Justice-Washington DC-July 4, 2011-14:05**

I heard Batman mention having a discussion about the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day. _"Not four, but five Bats. I just got a call from GL. Apparently Coldsnap attempted to attack Coast City's City Hall about half an hour ago."_

"So Lantern took care of him?"

"_No, some kid that he didn't recognize did. Strange thing is, the kid's costume kind of looked like GL's uniform, except it was blue, and there was no symbol on his chest. Ever hear of him?"_

"No, that's something else we'll have to discuss." He turned to the kids and said "We shouldn't be long."

Roy wasn't to happy about that. "That's it? You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass." AC reminded him that it was a first step, and Oliver said that he needed to be patient. "What I need is _respect_." He was getting madder by the second. He turned to the others and made his case to them. "They're treating us like kids, worse, like _sidekicks!_ We deserve better than this." The others didn't understand what he was talking about, and Roy wasn't happy about their reactions. "You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be _the day_. Step one in becoming full fledged members of the League."

Wally was a little confused. "Well sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except that the Hall isn't the League's real HQ." All of us were shocked at that. How the hell did Roy know that? "I bet they never told you that it's a false front for tourists and a pit-stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing: an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower." I smiled at that, even though I was still shocked that Roy knew so much. The founding members of the League had named the satellite after the information hub that my wife, Chloe Anne Sullivan runs for me, and that I had let the League borrow on our first mission, the mission that had started the Justice League in the first place.

Bruce and Wally glared at Oliver. He had to be the one that told Roy about the Watchtower. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?"

"_Just because you help fund the Watchtower doesn't mean you can go blab about it to anyone you want, Arrow."_ I turned to Roy. _"As for you, you're not convincing us that you are ready to be a full member of the League yet. If you can't keep that temper under control, it could prove to be a danger to everyone you work with. Stand down son, or else . . ."_

"Or else what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son, I'm not even _his_. I thought I was his partner, but not anymore." He threw down his cap and stormed out of the Hall, but not before throwing one final parting shot at the other kids. "Guess they're right about you three, you're _not_ ready."

I don't know what would have happened then, if Superman hadn't called in about an explosion at Project Cadmus. Bruce and I had both had our suspicions about Cadmus, especially after Chloe failed to hack into it. (That was extremely unusual because Chloe had been able to hack into everything before, including Checkmate, the NSA, CIA, DDS, and DHS when necessary.) But before we could get ready to go to Cadmus, Giovanni 'John' Zatara warned us about the sorcerer Wotan attempting to blot out the sun with some amulet. Great, a magician. I _hate_ fighting magic users. Batman decided that the investigation into Cadmus could wait, and told the kids to stay put. Dick asked why and the other mentors said that this was a League mission. Barry added in "You're not trained . . ." I'm sure he was going to go on, but Wally interrupted by asking since when had they not been trained. "I meant that you're not trained to work as part of this team." The demand that they stay out of the sun mission gave me an idea.

When I stayed behind while the others went on to the teleporters, Bruce gave me a look. _"I have something I need to do here, I'll catch up later."_ Bruce didn't look too happy about it, but he let it go. I turned to the computers, and laid my hand on them, commanding all the recording devices to shut down for twenty minutes._ "Now that that's taken care of, we can speak freely. Listen, I'm on your side. I'd like for you guys to join the League, but Flash is right, you guys aren't ready to join us yet."_ Dick was about to say something, but I cut him off and turned off my voice modulator so he'd know that I wanted him to trust me. "Just hear me out Robin. You guys are all great at your partnerships, I'm sure, but a partnership is very different from a team. That is why I want you to do something for me."

They all looked shocked at that. Kaldur asked "What can we do for you?"

"You can investigate Project Cadmus for us." Now _that_ really shocked them. "Batman said that you couldn't join us for the mission against Wotan, but he never said anything about not investigating Cadmus." I then gave Dick a secret sign I'd shown him four years before, when I'd wanted to talk to him without Bruce knowing. I then signed _Lvl 52_, I knew Dick would be able to figure out what I meant when they got there. According to a source I had in Cadmus, there were some strange things going on inside Cadmus, including some secret project on Sublevel 52, something both Superman and I would be interested in. I then reactivated the voice modulator and jumped to the teleporters. After all, I didn't know where Wotan was. _"Recognized: Shade-08"_

**Just outside of Project Cadmus-Washington DC-July 5-00:35**

I had _finally_ made it to Washington, and Cadmus was still standing, so I had made it in time. I looked through the window, and saw Aqualad electrocuting Blockbuster, so I knew I had made it just in time. The columns exploded thanks to Rob's batarangs, and the entire building started to come down. Just as the building was about to collapse on the four founding members of Young Justice, I threw a force field over them, and I sneaked a souvenir for Wally, Desmond's old nose. When the building finished collapsing, I pushed it off them, revealing the young heroes, and the effectiveness of my force field. Their uniforms were still torn, but nowhere near as bad as they had been on the show. The only costume that looked exactly the same was Kon's, the tear matching the show perfectly.

I watched as the members of the Justice League came down on Cadmus, all of whom I recognized: Superman, Captain Marvel, John Zatara, Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter were the first to arrive. They were quickly followed by the others: Captain Atom, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Hal Jordan. And being lowered down by John Stewart were Black Canary, Green Arrow, Batman, Aquaman, and one other that I did _not_ recognize. The other wore a costume much like the one Clark had used in Season 9 of Smallville, except he had a hood and the S-shield was blue.

**Ruins of Cadmus-00:39-Shade's POV**

I couldn't believe it, I had just asked them to _investigate_ Cadmus, not bring it down! Then I noticed that they had gained a fourth member, a young man in a white suit with a red symbol that was covered by a torn part of his shirt. He looked surprisingly like a sixteen year old Jor-El or Kal-El. Who was this kid? Then he raised the shirt, revealing a red crest of the House of El. This kid was a Kryptonian? But how? Bruce recognized the crest as well. But who couldn't? Our family crest was probably _the_ most famous symbol in the world. Then the boy revealed that he was Kal's clone. So, that's what Dubbilex meant about Sublevel 52, they had been cloning Clark. Everyone was shocked by this revelation, and I didn't like the reactions I was seeing in my ESV. Clark and Bruce were full of red-rage and yellow-fear. I wasn't too surprised about Bruce, but Clark? Since when was he afraid of anything? We had to talk about what had happened.

A few minutes later, Bruce turned to the kids. "Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels. But let's make one thing clear: end results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives."

"_That's not quite true, Batman. I told them to go investigate Cadmus. And even if I hadn't you just told them not to join us on the Wotan mission. You never said anything about not investigating Cadmus."_ Bruce gave me the infamous Bat-glare, but I gave him my own glare, one that usually caused criminals to start running their tongues about anything and everything. Bruce eventually yielded, but he told the kids that they wouldn't be doing anything like this again.

Kaldur was the first to stand up to him, declaring that they would be continuing working together. When Arthur told him to stand down, Kaldur defied even him. "Apologies my King, but no. We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important." Each of them stood up to Batman and their mentors in order to keep working together. Robin said it best, when he said "Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?"

Superboy finished it by giving Bruce an ultimatum. "Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way." When he said that, I decided to go with the better of the two choices, I would support them, even if the entire League was against them. When faced with determination like that, it was better to just fold and let them do it on our terms, rather than stand up to them and let them get into situations that would require our involvement. Bruce decided to think on it for three days and get back to them. I hoped that he made the right decision. I was going to talk to him about this in two days and make sure that he did. Otherwise, we'd probably have a full blown mutiny on our hands.

**Mount Justice-Happy Harbor, Rhode Island-July 8, 2011-8:04**

After the encounter at Cadmus, I laid low and managed to hack into government databases and create a new civilian identity, renaming myself Tony Peter Storm, getting rid of my last link to the father I hated. And I enrolled myself at Gotham Academy for school this year, in order to be closer to Dick. I also found out that there were no comics featuring my world. (Hey, I figured if DC was real, then why couldn't my world be in a comic book in another universe?) Three days after the destruction of Cadmus, I snuck into Mount Justice (with invisibility on) just as Batman was giving Young Justice their brief. "This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. Shade and I will deploy you on missions." So, the stranger was called Shade, huh? Well, I'd have to look him up, because I didn't realize there was a hero called Shade.

Then Batman mentioned that the _five_ of them would be their covert team, and introduced Miss Martian/M'gann M'orzz. While they started talking, I decided to explore the place, and try to decide on a room. Fortunately, they were all basically the same, so I didn't have to worry about someone taking 'my room.' I heard Kon mention hearing somebody else, and I thought that I'd been discovered already. Then I heard him say something about "putting this Joker down." Joker? Oh, he can't be serious, can he? I couldn't be that lucky so soon, could I? I ran into the room, and I found Kon fighting himself, with a G-gnome watching. Oh, so that's it huh? I decided to enter Kon's mind to help him out, but only showing him my unmasked head.

When I entered his mind, I saw a full-fledged battle going on between the League and Joker, with an army of green robot monkeys. "Kon! Kon, where are you?"

"Who the hell is Kon? And why do I see a floating head? Hey Bats, do you see what I see?" Fortunately, Batman didn't pay attention to the Clown Prince of Crime, and I was able to spot Kon afterwards. Bruce's cape had been in-between me and Kon.

"Kon, listen to me! This is not real, it's all in your head. A telepath has gotten into your head and is making you play out this scenario."

"How would you know? Who are you? And why did you call me Kon?"

"I'm a friend, and to me, you'll always be Kon, no matter what happens in this universe. And although I know how much you hate telepaths, I'm in your head too, but you can always trust me, Kon. Try to think, are there any discrepancies between this world and the real world?" That was all the hint that he required, as he quickly tested his theory by tossing AC near a zeta-beam teleporter, and the teleporter didn't recognize him. Kon then hit the ground with everything he had, and disrupted the G-gnome's telepathy.

"Now that he's taken care of, I want some answers. Who are you? _What_ are you? Why are you here? And why can't I see your body?"

I laughed. Already acting like a reporter, just like his dad. Or at least one of his dads. I left before I found out if Kon's origins were the same in this world as in Earth-0. I really hoped not. Hopefully one of the FanFiction writers was right about the identity of his other parent, preferably Jessesgirl1549. "Alright, I'll give you some answers. My name is Tony, and I'm here because I want to join your team. With any luck, I'll be doing that in about ten days. You can't see my body because I've turned it invisible. As to what I am, I'm _complicated_. But know this, I shall always be your friend, and you can always trust me, no matter what." After that, I winked at him, and left.

**Happy Harbor-July 18, 2011-11:30**

I'd found absolutely _nothing_ out about Shade over the next week, he was barely even mentioned in the newspapers except as a rumor! I also made a quick visit to Smallville and Gotham to pick some things up. And when I arrived at Mount Justice today, I decided to be nice to M'gann, so I saved her cookies. Turns out, they were chocolate chip, I'd always wondered about that. After saving her cookies from becoming inedible, I sneaked out and waited for Mr. Twister to make an appearance. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to find him, just look for the tornado. Unfortunately I had forgotten one crucial detail: Mr. Twister first struck _inside a building_, so I wasn't able to find him until Kaldur shouted "We will not indulge you! We will not engage!" Then Twister started generating lightning, prompting Wally to doubt their guess that Twister was Red Tornado.

I wasn't about to let Twister hit them with the lightning, so I decided to distract him. "Hey, Twister! Why not try me out?" I yelled at him, then I threw two columns of flames at him, trying to damage some of his primary systems. It worked, for a little while, until Twister turned on me and blew me away. Then Kon and I attacked him from opposite directions, but Twister was prepared for that and shot us both back where we started. He moved to finish us off, but I covered all six of us with my force field, moving so that we were close together. _"Very well, stay behind your shield. I won't deny you children have power, but this does not help me achieve my objectives. But if you confront me again, I will show no mercy!"_

"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all, eh Rob?" I said, deliberately quoting him from when they escaped the cloning facilities on Cadmus' sublevel 42 thirteen days ago.

It got the expected response. "Who the hell are you? And how did you know who I am?"

"That is a very long story Rob, and hopefully one I'll be able to tell all of you one day. But first, let's take care of Mister Twister, shall we? Oh, and before we go, don't blame M'gann for her mistake. It was an honest, rookie mistake and I'm sure that she'll make fewer after she gets some more experience. Now, M'gann, contact Tornado and see if he'll come. The rest of us will try to at least slow him down." They all stared at me, obviously wondering why I put myself in charge of the team. "If any of you have any other plans, please speak up. Otherwise let's get going."

When we returned to town, each of us tried to take down Twister, but to no avail. He even managed to save himself from my flames by using his twisters to suck them up. The best I could do was protect civilians and property from damage. None of the others had any better luck, until M'gann came up with a plan. Once she had explained her plan, Tornado showed up and admonished us for not being able to take care of Twister on our own. _"Hit the showers, boys. I was hoping you could handle this, clearly you cannot."_ When Dick tried to argue the point, Tornado said _"The subject is not up for debate."_ For a little while, it would seem that our plan wouldn't need to be implemented, but as I had seen in the show, Twister managed to gain the upper hand, and I managed to shield 'Tornado' from the explosion. _"Remain still, android. The reprogramming won't take long."_

Then, as planned, M'gann revealed herself and we each took our turns hitting Twister. Wally blew him around and into Kon by creating a twister-as he had throughout the fight, Kon punched him, eventually sending him to Kaldur, who sent him flying out of the water. M'gann grabbed him with her telekinesis, blasting his arms off, while Dick threw some batarangs into the chest. And when he hit the ground, I turned on the heat, melting away the armor, until the chest opened up, revealing a 'human' operator. M'gann then grabbed a boulder and dropped it on the operator, to everyone else's shock. Dick got after her, until she lifted the boulder, revealing a crushed android. I allowed Wally to get his souvenir, and then torched the rest. Then Dick turned to me and asked, "Well, now that _that's_ taken care of, what about you?"

Young Justice all turned to me, and waited for a response. "Well, I'm guessing you're looking for the usual 'Who are you and what do you want,' right?" They all nodded. "Well, you can call me Torch, and I'm here to join up with you. I want to join Young Justice."

Aqualad was the first to respond. "That doesn't tell us who you are. How is it that we have never heard of you before today? And how did you acquire your abilities?"

Figures, they would ask about the two subjects I really didn't want to talk about. "My story is a little complicated, so I'm going to wait until we don't have any pressing issues. I will be sharing some information with only Rob and Superboy though.."

"Huh? Why are you willing to tell us but not the others?"

"That's simple, _RG_, I trust you two above the others. Kaldur, sorry but I don't know enough about you to form an opinion yet. As for M'gann and Wally, well, I don't trust you two to keep your mouths shut. M'gann is to naïve, and Wally is willing to do anything to impress a girl."

Rob was frozen in shock when he realized that I had said his initials. Aqualad was the one to keep questioning me. "How is it that you know our names when we've just met? By the way, how old are you?"

"Well, that's a little . . . complicated. Let's just say that you guys are pretty famous where I come from. Oh, and I'm fourteen. So, what do you say, am I in?"

**Happy Harbor-June 18-19:45**

I couldn't believe it. Someone else knew my identity? But how did he find out? I knew Bruce wouldn't be very happy when . . . make that _if_ he ever found out. The next thing I heard was Torch asking if he was going to join the team. I decided to ask what I thought was the obvious question. "Why don't you ask Batman or Shade?"

"Because I know that you guys are willing to go up against the League and Batman if you think you should, otherwise you wouldn't exist as a team. Besides, I want to be on the team because _you_ think I should be on, not because the League thinks I should be on. If you want, I'll walk away so you can talk amongst yourselves and vote. And one more thing, no matter what you decide, know this, I will always be your friend, and you can always trust me, no matter what." Oh, great, now what do I do? Do I vote to let him in so I can keep an eye on him, or vote him out so he doesn't get anymore information?

"Wait, how did you know we went against the League to create this team?"

"That's simple, Kaldur. I saw it a few months ago."

"A few months? But we only went active two weeks ago. Wait, are you from the future?"

"That's only part of my secret, Wally. I promise, I will explain everything inside of a week, assuming you let me in." And with that, Torch walked off and left us to vote on whether or not to let him in.

"I vote yes. He has proved himself useful, and if he is from the future, he can provide valuable intelligence on future missions and enemies." I had to admit, Aqualad had some good points, but what was I to do?

Unsurprisingly Wally and Megan both voted yes. To my shock though, so did Superboy. When I asked him why, he said "Because I trust him." I don't know what it was, but something about his voice was different, closer to Clark's than I'd ever heard before.

Whatever it was, I decided to trust Superboy. And when Bruce asked me why, I could always tell him that I was keeping my friends close and my enemies closer, or at least that would be the excuse I gave him. "Well then, I guess that it's unanimous." We turned back to Torch, and I said "Welcome to the team, partner."

**Mount Justice-Happy Harbor-June 18-21:17**

I moved in that night, while the others briefed Red Tornado. The one thing I didn't unpack was the bag that held the most sensitive part of my belongings, the things I didn't want _anyone_ to find, _especially_ not Mr. Bruce Wayne. I then set my nanites to shutting down all the bugs and cameras in my room, while setting up my own. Only when the nanites returned did I unpack that last bag. And then I set up a security system that was worthy of Tony Stark, and encrypting it ten times over. After that was set up, I pulled out the Smallville rock and broke off a small piece of it. Taking the smaller piece, I put it in a lead-lined pocket of my belt, while I put the larger piece in a lead-lined drawer in my room. Although I hated to have it, I had no choice if I wanted to protect Kon. I also pulled out the Radion bullet and one other thing I had brought from my Earth, a present for someone that I KNEW was here, and I knew well from my life back home. I just hoped Dick understood why I had it, once I explained why I brought it.

**Manhattan alley-New York-June 18-23:45**

An enormous black, clawed hand emerged from what appeared to be thin air. But this hand was coming from another universe, one where it was infamous. The hand on it's own actually belonged to a man who was closing in on his fifties, but didn't look over thirty, because of the being that was bonded to it, and it was because of that being that he was infamous. Once the black symbiote was convinced that it could survive on the other world, he stepped through, disguised as mere human. Using his enhanced senses, including a sixth sense, he quickly determined that his arch-nemesis was nowhere near, despite the fact that he often patrolled the area. In fact, he could not find a single sign of his nemesis. _This is most unusual. The Spider is always around here. Why is he not here to face us?_

_Who cares?_ the other half asked._ We are free from him, and we can do whatever we want. We can do what we need to do to survive, and he can not interfere again._

**A/N:** I hope that works for a cliff-hanger, any guesses as to who it is? (Probably obvious, especially if you're familiar with Spider-Man.) How about the mystery items Tony has? The next chapter will be up sometime around June 22nd, sorry! If you think the nanotech suit makes Tony too powerful, well, sorry, but it has it's uses in the future. And _**PLEASE**_** READ AND REVIEW!** Oh, and I hope that Jessesgirl doesn't mind a little shout out to her story. I definitely wish you were right about Kon's other parent, although Tatsumaki-sama's idea would have been good as well. Too bad they went with the comic origin!


	4. Histories and a Leader

**A/N:** Before I start this chapter, a quick shout out to the master author Peter David. It's thanks to him that I was able to write the introduction to Tony's history. It's a direct quote from his novelization of _Spider-Man_, the first movie in the Tobey Maguire/Kirsten Dunst/Sam Raimi trilogy.

**Bleeding Multiverse**

**Chapter Four: Histories and a Leader**

**Happy Harbor-July 20-20:15**

We were all camping out on the summit of Mount Justice thanks to an attempt by Wally to get closer to M'gann. Kon was a little disappointed at camping, he probably thought that it was a little boring. Wally told him, "If you feel like heading home I can sit out here with Ms. M . . . alone."

"Subtle Wally, real subtle. You're just trying to prove that you're a ladies man, and with one of your own teammates. For shame. What would Flash say if he heard about this?"

"Please, you're just jealous. I bet you'd be doing the same thing if I hadn't thought of it first."

I laughed at that. "Me and M'gann? Are you crazy, Wally? Don't answer that. Sorry, but the two of us would be as likely as Ba-" I almost said Batman and Joker, but I wouldn't speak of that thrice-damned dreg of a clown if I could help it, so I switched. "I mean, Aquaman and Black Manta."

"What's wrong? Don't you like me?" M'gann asked.

I laughed again. "You guys really don't know me at all, do you? Even if we did like each other romantically, we couldn't be together."

"Why not?"

"A simple demonstration should remind you, Kaldur." I stuck out my hand and created a ball of fire hovering an inch over my hand. "There's a reason that I call myself Torch, I can create and manipulate fire. And in case you forgot, fire is a Martian's Kryptonite, so no chance."

Dick interrupted our little impromptu discussion about romance with a suggestion. "You know, usually you sit around a campfire and tell stories." M'gann immediately suggested that Kaldur tell his origins story. "I was thinking more of a ghost story type of thing, but I guess . . . whatever." I smiled at that. Kaldur's story was one of only two of my current teammates origins that I didn't know by heart.

Kaldur began, "Well, I grew up in the city of Shayeris, which is a city in Atlantis." I was startled by that name, it was surprisingly close to Shayera, one of the names of Hawkgirl. "Surface dwellers think all Atlanteans are the same, but our kingdom has many cities, many people, many cultures. When I was twelve, I completed my education and began my mandatory service in the Atlantean military, which is standard for all at that age. After a while, I was transferred to the prestigious Conservatory of Sorcery in the Atlantean capital of Poseidonis." I glanced over at Wally. Sure enough he scoffed at the idea of learning magic. I smiled at the thought of the bet I had planned for our trip to the Tower of Fate. The only question remaining was what I would demand from Wally for winning the bet.

Kaldur continued "Queen Mera is the head mistress of the Conservatory and wife of King Orin, Aquaman. It was a very different time for me. It was difficult, as it would be for anyone at age fourteen I suppose, but also a time in my life where I met friends that I know will be with me for a lifetime. Then came a day, a _horrible_ day when Poseidonis was attacked by the Ocean Master. I can remember it vividly, as if it happened only yesterday.

"It was the day Aquaman nearly met his end. Aquaman and Ocean Master fought for what seemed like hours. When Aquaman and Ocean Master clashed, it seemed to shake to the very foundations of the city. Ocean Master had gained the upper hand and nearly defeated Aquaman. Correction. Aquaman _was_ defeated. Garth, a fellow student, and I intervened on the king's behalf. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The danger did not occur to us, the only thing that mattered to us at the time was that our king was in trouble. It may have been one of the most foolish things Garth and I had ever done, as we nearly met our own end. We had no hope of defeating him whatsoever, but the time we spent engaged in battle against the Ocean Master was time enough for our king to recover.

"That was all he needed as Aquaman finally triumphed over Ocean Master. He was able to drive him away from the city and save us all. Aquaman is a being of two worlds. On the surface world he fights for justice for all beings. Under the sea he is a leader to many. Both carry the weight of responsibilities, overwhelming responsibilities, only even the best of men can carry for so long. Even Aquaman cannot do both forever. Realizing that on the surface both Batman and Green Arrow had taken on apprentices that could one day take over their respective mantles, King Orin had been contemplating the same idea. With this in mind, he approached both Garth and myself with the possibility of becoming his protégés. I must admit the possibility intrigued me immediately. I had never been to the surface world, and I am the first to admit that I am a bit of an adventurer. Many is the day in class that I would dream of visiting distant oceans and possibly one day even the surface world. Both Garth and I seriously considered the king's offer. Garth ultimately chose to continue his studies with Queen Mera at the Conservatory of Sorcery. For me, however, the chance to visit the surface world was a dream come true, so at the age of fourteen, I became Aqualad. I miss my friends Garth, Tula, but the chance to work with my mentor and king was an opportunity I could not pass up. I like to think the work I am doing makes a difference."

Wally tried to impress them with his story, but I interrupted him. "Please, your origin isn't that impressive."

"Pssh, like you actually know it."

"I know just about _everyone's_ origin. Tell you what, I'll tell your origin and if I make a mistake, you can take over. Agreed?" Wally quickly agreed, probably doubting that I could actually do it correctly. The others also leaned forward, curious to see how well I did.

"In the 1930's, a young college student named Jay Garrick was doing an experiment with hard water when something went wrong and he woke up a week later with superspeed and became the first person to take up the identity of the Flash. Over the next three decades he worked as a member of the Justice Society of America, the predecessors to the modern Justice League. Flash was one of the handful of heroes that didn't bother with a secret identity, and as such developed quite the following. One of his fans, another young scientist named Barry Allen wanted to know _everything_ about his idol, including the accident. One day, Barry decided to recreate the accident that made Jay the Flash. Maybe it was a mistake to do it in the middle of a lightning storm, maybe it was fate, who knows. But the lightning bolt combined with the same accident gave Barry the same abilities, but with an extra boost of speed. Barry Allen was now the fastest man alive and the second man to take up the mantle of the Flash."

"Hold it!" Wally interrupted. I was actually little surprised that it took him this long. "How did you know that Barry Allen was the man underneath the mask?"

"That is a long story that I'll get to later tonight. Now, Barry met a girl named Iris West and married her. Turns out that Iris has a brother named Rudy who was already married and had a young son, Wally. One day Wally was visiting his Uncle Barry and accidentally discovered Barry's journals and discovered that his favorite uncle was also his idol, the second Flash. When Barry found out that Wally knew, he was naturally upset, and he was even more upset when Wally insisted that he become Barry's sidekick. Unfortunately, Barry was too late to stop Wally, because Barry had written down the notes about the experiment, and Wally duplicated it."

"The experiment worked?" Kaldur asked.

Wally grimaced. "Well, not at first actually."

"Nope. Like Jay, Wally also had to wait about a week before his speed kicked in, most of that time being spent in the hospital with Barry blaming himself. But when Wally revealed that he had superspeed, Barry reluctantly took Wally on as Kid Flash, so long as Wally agreed to follow Barry's instructions to the letter." I paused for a minute, then asked "Well? How'd I do, twip?" Wally just glared at me, and I knew that he would have to admit I did a good job.

M'gann turned to Dick and asked "Can you tell us about how you got started, Robin?"

Wally started laughing. "Are you _kidding_ me? Bats won't even let him tell you his real name! I mean, you'll probably get a better origin story out of Supey over here." Then he turned to glare at me. "Although, I bet that _Torch_ over there knows everything about Rob."

I smiled. "Of course I do, Wally. Rob's origin story has got to be one of _the most_ famous and well known origins out there. Everyone back home knows how Rob got started." Dick turned towards me, shock clearly showing on his face, his features clearly begging me not to tell them. "However, his story is an extremely personal one, a story that I think is better told by Rob himself or Bats. If it becomes necessary for a mission, I will tell it if they don't beat me to it." One of the most popular _Young Justice_ stories back home was how the team finds out Robin's name, usually the story had something to do with Anthony 'Boss' Zucco somehow getting on our radar.

"Well then, what about you? Who are you, and how did you start?" Kaldur asked.

I grimaced. Although I had prepared for this all week, I still didn't want to tell it. "Who am I? You sure you wanna know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody told you it was a happy little tale . . . if somebody told you I was just your average, ordinary guy, not a care in the world . . . somebody lied. Mine is a tale of pain and sorrow, longing and heartache, anger and betrayal. And that just covers my childhood." With that introduction, I started my history, starting with the origins of the multiverse, then that of the Fantastic Four, going into the Civil War, my own manipulated childhood, and the few times I had actually gone out as a hero.

"When my powers finally kicked in, I thought I'd be able to find a measure of peace, something to take my mind off what _Mr. Fantastic_ was doing, but it didn't. Nothing helped, not even flying, and every flier I've talked to said that flying was usually the most peaceful thing they'd ever done."

"Didn't anything you do bring you peace on your world?" M'gann asked.

"Two things. One was my music, the one thing I'm glad that my father forced on me, and even then I defied him. He gave me a list of instruments to pick from, and I deliberately chose one that wasn't on the list: a violin. It took me a long time to learn, but I've come to love the sweet music that can only come from a good violin. I even made sure to bring my two best violins with me."

"And what was the other thing?"

"That's easy Rob, you." They all looked at me in shock, especially Dick. "This entire multiverse gave me peace. I devoured everything I could get my hands on about you guys. I own every comic, every book, every movie and every episode of every series that featured even one of you, no matter how badly the critics rated it. I became the ultimate authority on your multiverse. When I was reading or watching your adventures, it was like I became a part of it. And when I saw the show that is based on this universe, I knew what I had to do. I'm here to make sure that certain mistakes aren't made and that certain events don't happen at all. As to what those events are, that is going to remain a secret."

"Can you prove it? And when you're ready, can you show us what you want to prevent?"

"Easily Rob. This is actually the second universe that I visited based on you guys, and your counterpart didn't believe me. So this time, I came prepared. I've brought my entire library here. Every movie, TV show, book and comic is in my room, safely under lock and key, and I'm the key, so don't even try to hack in Rob. But do you see why you can trust me now? Ever since I learned to read, you've all been my heroes, Rob and Superboy especially, at least for this generation." _Even if you're not exactly the right Robin_ I silently added. I far preferred Tim to Dick and couldn't wait for Tim to show up. "As for the events I want to prevent, well, I'm not actually sure they will occur here. The events I want to prevent all happened on Earths that my universe called Earth-0 or Earth-12. This is officially Earth-16, so who knows if things will be the same. But believe me, I want us to be prepared, just in case similar events take place."

**Caribbean Sea-Near Santa Prisca-July 22-20:08**

We were flying to the island of Santa Prisca to find out why the island had stopped shipping out the infamous steroid Venom. I was looking forward to this, I really wanted to see the Man who Broke the Bat, the infamous Bane. Aqualad left the ship just off the coast so he could shut down the heat and motion sensors, while the five of us left the ship inland, closer to the factory. Wally first tried to flirt with M'gann with the stealth tech, and then tried to convince Kon to use it. "Why should he, Wally? He's already dressed in dark clothes."

"Well, what about you? Your uniform is so bright that you'll stick out like a sore thumb."

I just smiled and sent my uniform a mental command, turning it from it's usual bright blue to a military-based jungle camo uniform. "The benefits of having a nanotech suit that responds to your thoughts. I can manipulate this to look like anything I want it to." We then dropped from the ship, and went scouting, quickly discovering two squads of men, but before we found anything else about them, Robin disappeared, and Wally ran off before I could stop him.

Wally slipped and fell in front of the two squads of men, causing them to stop firing at each other and start firing at him. Kon jumped in and attacked the largest man, a guy in mask that was mostly black, and white for the face. It was too late for us to continue in stealth mode with this group, so I reverted my costume back to it's usual form and started attacking the guys in the hooded robes. Rob tried to get after us for not following his lead, but I told him off. "Look Rob, as much as I respect you, you need to remember something. We have not been a team for long, this is only our first official mission together. In your partnerships, the roles are clear and defined. But that isn't the case here. Until we've gotten used to working as a team, a leader needs to give clear directions."

"Oh, so now I've got to hold everyone's hand?"

"Did I say that? No, I just said that you need to give directions. Most of us are not telepaths, Rob. If you want to be the leader, then lead by telling us what you want us to do. And don't you even _think _about bat-glaring me, I'm just trying to help you out."

"Bat-glare? What in the world is that? Oh, and does that mean that you're supporting me as leader?" Wally asked. That's when I noticed not only had the others beaten the squads, they'd also tied them up while Dick and I were talking.

"KF, do you know _the look_ that Bats gives when he's trying to scare someone? The look that's intense enough for even Superman to fold? _That_ is the Bat-glare. It's quite famous where I come from, and while I want to see how I'd do under it, the only person I've ever heard of that can do it to the degree of proficiency that Bats can, isn't active yet, and probably won't be for another four or five years. As for supporting you, not a snowball's chance in hell. Rob would be a far better choice in leader than you simply because he's a strategic thinker. But you, you act before you think, which is a far worse quality for a leader than one that assumes you know what he's thinking. In fact, I think your codename should be Impulse instead of Kid Flash, _that's_ how impulsive I think you are." I hoped Bart would forgive me for that.

We found out that the guys in hooded robes were actually members of the Cult of the Kobra, who had taken over the factory from the usual guys. The large guy offered to take us into the factory using his own secret entrance. M'gann attempted to read his mind to find the entrance but he started reciting _football_/soccer scores in Spanish. We decided to trust him and let him lead us to the other entrance. There was something about him that seemed extremely familiar, so I asked him "Who are you?"

"Well, _chiquita_, my name is Bane."

I guffawed at that. "You? You're Bane?" I started laughing uncontrollably. This guy was the infamous Bane, the Man Who Broke the Bat? He was at least a foot shorter than I'd been lead to expect from the other three times I'd seen him. I couldn't believe this guy was the infamous Bane!

"What is so funny, _chiquita_?"

"Nothing, Bane, nothing at all. I just expected someone with your . . . _reputation_ to be a lot taller. I thought you'd be at least seven foot, not six foot six."

"Thank you, _chiquita_. It's good to know that my reputation has spread so far, and to know that you believed me to be so large." Bane then moved the stone away from the entrance and led us into the factory. When Rob and Impulse (as I was starting to think of KF as) disappeared without warning, Bane turned to us and said "Great chain of command."

"It's our first official mission, and we don't exactly have a designated leader, so what do you expect?" As we watched, Kon mentioned that they were only taking the Kobra Venom out to the buyer, not even touching the Bane Venom. M'gann suggested (rather naively) that freshness was important. "No, Kobra's doing something different to Venom since they took over. If only I could remember what they did." Then Kon mentioned a helicopter coming. I used the nanites on my mask to allow me to hear further, and sure enough, Sportsmaster was almost here.

When Aqualad found out about Sportsmaster, he insisted we needed a plan, and Bane launched himself at the cultists. Unfortunately it drew the attention of Mammoth and he jumped back inside through the window, right on top of me! When we hit the ground, I panicked and accidentally gave him a dose of the gas I kept in my suit near the wrists. To my surprise, Mammoth reacted fairly violently to the gas. As I backed away from him, I stared in shock, this wasn't a side-effect of the gas! Actually, it didn't _have_ side-effects, so why was he . . . shrinking? What the hell was going on with him?

Then I realized that I wasn't the only one staring at Mammoth. Kobra, Sportsmaster, Shimmer, and everyone else was also staring at Mammoth's strange reaction to my Gotham gas. Taking advantage of the distraction, I threw a few shruiken at the cultists while Kon took on Mammoth. Unfortunately, while I took down a number of cultists, our attacks also served to wake them from their shock. Kaldur had M'gann link us up telepathically and then ordered us to retreat back to the tunnel. _What? But we're winning! Mammoth is down for the count and the cultists are dropping like flies! _I wasn't the only one wanting to stay, as Robin claimed he was busy elsewhere.

_Robin, Torch, NOW!_ Kaldur ordered. Both of us reluctantly retreated back to the tunnel where we unanimously voted Kaldur the leader of Young Justice. Or at least, leader until Dick could take over. "Well then, before we go any further, I think we all have a question we need answered. Torch, what was that gas that you used on Mammoth?" They all turned, waiting for my answer.

I cringed at their looks. I _really_ didn't want to tell them the truth about the gas, especially considering how Dick would probably react to finding out what it was. So I decided to delay the inevitable. "Is this really the best time to ask that? Right now, we need to stop that shipment. If you still want to know what the gas was afterwards . . . then I'll tell you on our way back. Deal?" They all reluctantly agreed. Fortunately Dick had already managed to delay Sportsmaster by sabotaging the engine of the helicopter, so now all we needed was to stop that chopper from leaving, permanently. When we went to leave the tunnel, Bane turned on us, just as I knew he would. And as in the show, Impulse stole the detonator and Kon knocked him out.

By the time we returned to the factory, Mammoth was nowhere to be seen, and he had been replaced by a kid about the size and build of Kon. He looked a little like the guy I kind of remembered Mammoth was before the Kobra Venom, but far more muscled. _So, the S-Gas only neutralizes the Blockbuster formula? Well, it's better than nothing,_ I thought. Kon quickly managed to take the boy out, while I turned to the cultists, throwing a few smoke grenades to hide myself while taking out a dozen of the cultists. Dick took on Kobra himself, but was unable to best him. "Hey, Kobra! Why so eager to sell the stuff when you know that the effect can be cancelled?"

He turned to me, just as I unleashed the gas on him. But unlike the gas I had unleashed on Mammoth, this version was one I'd mixed up myself, and far less virulent, more like a hallucinogen than what it truly was.

"What was that . . . supposed to do? What have you done? What was that gas?"

"That is a low concentration of the gas that turned Mammoth back into a mere mortal, Snaky. If you want to know what's in it, I suggest you go to the Himalayas and ask around about a little blue flower." With that, Dick and I charged him, and using all of our martial arts abilities, brought Kobra down. By now, Sportsmaster had taken off on the chopper, and Kon was just about to blow it. As planned, the chopper crashed into the factory, utterly destroying it. Unfortunately, the explosion distracted me and Dick, allowing Kobra to escape into the jungle, where he could overcome the effects of the gas in peace.

**Painted Desert, Arizona-July 23-00:45**

From empty space, a large grey-green, clawed foot stepped onto the desert floor. In five seconds it was followed by the rest of the body, the entire creature, though man-shaped, was easily three times larger than even the largest body-builder. The creature could only be called by it's name in it's home: an Abomination. You could clearly see its bones, as several of them jutted out of the skin. Later observers would say that it almost appeared to be Doomsday on steroids, they were so similar. The only differences were that Abomination's face was clear of any bones and hair, and that the Abomination's spine jutted out of his back. The former decorated soldier, glad to have escaped his nemesis' rage for now retreated to some caves he knew were nearby to heal, then he would hunt his foe again.

**Atlantic Ocean-Over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina-July 23-02:13**

Half an hour after leaving Santa Prisca, Kaldur finally asked Torch the question that had been bugging me for hours. "What was that gas you used?"

It was obvious he hadn't been looking forward to this conversation. "Alright, I'll tell you. But first, you guys have got to promise not to freak out over my answer. Especially you, Rob." Huh? Why would I freak out over the gas? Once he had our promise, he explained. "Three days before I joined you guys against Mister Twister, I went to Gotham." I gasped in shock at that. He had been in Gotham without me or Bruce knowing it? "There, I made a deal with a psychopath in order to get some of his infamous gas. Something that I'm sure Rob has an antidote for in his belt somewhere."

There was only one guy that I thought it could be, and I couldn't believe that one of my _partners _would _dare_ go to him. "_Smilex? _You made a deal with _Joker_ for some of his gas?"

His eyes flared up with blue flame, something I'd never seen him do. "_**DO NOT **__**EVER**_ _suggest that I am working with __**HIM**__**! **__**UNDERSTAND**__**?**_" With every word he spoke, the flames in his eyes flashed larger, and by the end of his little rant, his entire head was engulfed in flames. Why did mentioning the Joker cause that? Fortunately he quickly calmed down and apologized. "Sorry, but the thrice-damned Clown Prince of Crime is a _very _sensitive subject for me. He is the main cause of most of the things I want to prevent. And as you can tell, I am _**not **_using Joker gas. Try again, Rob."

Well then, that left only one gas that he could get in Gotham, and only Gotham. "Fear gas. You bought _fear gas _off of Scarecrow."

"Yeah. Although I have superhuman abilities, I like to do as much as I can without them. The only ability I don't mind using is flight. Everything else I try to use as little as possible. I prefer to rely on my skills as a martial artist and my bag of tricks. Like I said before, Robin was my number two hero, second only to the first GL. I mean, the first GL of the Corps." Huh, a kindred spirit, just one with abilities. I wonder if Bruce would mind having him in Gotham on occasion? "Anyway, I've been working on the fear gas myself. I figured that it would be a useful tool to have, so long as it's in small enough doses." Then he whispered something that I think was meant for me and Superboy alone. "I am working on making it stronger, but only for two _special_ cases." Okay, why would he be working on making a _stronger_ dose, when Scarecrow's regular dosage can kill? And do I tell Bruce, or keep it a secret? What do I do, betray a friend, or wait to find out who his targets are and why?

**A/N:** How much should Dick insist that Tony tell him? A: Just names, B: Why he's creating the gas, or C: Who _and_ why? Review your answer!


	5. AI's, Arrows and an Old Friend

**A/N:** I am _so sorry_ for the long wait, but Fate was not with this story for quite some time. Well, that and the fact that I joined two more fandoms since publishing the last chapter. Just a quick note, while I know that the show is unpopular, Torch's nanotech suit is loosely based off of the nanotech suit featured in _Spider-Man: Unlimited_. And here's the code for Young Justice's comms.

_Italic_-Kaldur/Aqualad

_**Bold Italic**_-Superboy

**Bold** Wally/Kid Flash

~_Accented Italics~_ M'gann/Ms Martian

"Quotes"-Robin

"_Italic Quotes"_-Tony/Torch

{Bracket Quotes}-Artemis

**Bleeding Multiverse**

**Chapter Five: AI's, Arrows and An Old Friend**

**Mount Justice-August 3-12:45**

It was twelve days before I saw or spoke to Dick again. I walked into the main room of the base, and Dick was waiting for me. "We need to talk, Storm." I nodded, and lead him to my room. This was our first chance to talk since the mission to Santa Prisca, and I still didn't know if he'd heard what I'd said about the fear gas. Once we were in my room, he asked me straight out, "Alright, I haven't told Batman about your gas, but I need to know something. Who are you using on it and why?"

"Dick," I ignored his shock at the casual use of his name and continued. "The main reason I have it is because of one man that should die, but the justice system will _never_ give him the death sentence, no matter how many graveyards he fills. _He_ is the only reason I'm making it stronger, and that's because the concentration that Scarecrow uses doesn't work on him."

"A name, Storm, give me a _damned name_."

I hissed out the answer. "_Joker_, who else? But his dose is not only strong enough to work on him, but also infused with something so that justice will be done. I'll use the usual strength on occasion, but it's just another weapon. The concentration I use is simply a hallucinogen, designed to show a person their worst fear. Fortunately, it wears off about an hour after the initial exposure."

"Alright, but why? Why do you think Joker needs to die?"

I took a deep breath and explained. "Remember when I talked about different realities? In one version of this Earth, Joker did his best to destroy Commissioner Gordon, and one of the ways was shooting his daughter, Barbara in the back, crippling her. Then he beat one of your successors as Robin with a crowbar before blowing him up. In another version, he's the one responsible for making District Attorney Harvey Dent into Two-Face. And in a third, he kidnapped another of your successors and . . . tortured him until he was . . . until he was a Joker Jr . . . he never fully recovered from that. Then, forty years after . . . after that . . . he started . . . started taking control of his body . . . allowing Joker to terrorize Gotham _decades _after he died." I had started crying as I told Dick the terrible fate of Earth-12's Tim Drake.

Dick just stared in shock. "How . . . how did he do it?"

"Cadmus tech. One of the heads of Cadmus in that reality was truly impressed by Batman and believed that Gotham would always need a Batman. In order to make sure that Gotham always had a Bat, she created different contingency plans to replace him and Joker stole one of those and corrupted it." I growled out the last part.

"Cadmus?"

"The Cadmus of Earth-12 was quite different from this reality's Cadmus. That Cadmus was born as the government's response to the Justice League. Basically, it was there to keep the League in check, just in case the League went rogue. Later, it became the government's liaison with the League. Then, in a third reality, he utterly _destroyed_ anyone connected to the Batman. He killed or was responsible for the deaths of Canary, Green Arrow, Hawk, Question and Huntress, demolished Buckingham Palace, and tortured _two_ of your successors, including a version of the one he got on Earth-12 until they were both Jokers. I won't rest until he's been utterly and completely _destroyed_. I don't care what Batman thinks or says, that clown is _dead._" I could tell Dick was still in shock, so I said "If you want, I can show you the proof I have, but let's wait until later. If I remember correctly, we have some training and a mission coming up soon."

As it was, I _did_ remember correctly, as Black Canary and J'onn came through the Zeta Tube just as we came back into the main hall. Kon was quite upset when he heard J'onn talking to M'gann and asking how she was, so I went up and comforted him. "Hey, don't worry. It will just take some time and Superman will come around. Besides, until then, you've always got us."

Dinah then stepped into what I guessed to be our official sparring ring and started her lecture. "I consider it an honour to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you: everything I've learned from my own mentors," here she pulled off her jacket, revealing a bandage just above her left elbow, wincing as she did so. "And my own bruises." When M'gann asked what happened, Dinah's only response was "The job. Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never _re_acting. I'll need a sparring partner." Wally immediately volunteered and quickly got served, with Canary claiming he lost because "He allowed me to dictate the terms."

"Really? Then let's test that, Canary," I called out. "My own fighting style is exactly the opposite of yours, react and defend yourself until the opportune moment. But first, let's make this fair. Computer, activate disabling mode. Authorization Code: Stamford-7-13-06-CN-8-25-SHIELD-Register, activate." The nanites quickly stabbed me in the neck, and I fell to the ground as an excruciating pain filled my body as my abilities were neutralized.

"Tony! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Superboy, I'm okay. Slag it, I never knew it would be that painful." I then focused on the nanites, forcing them into a small cube in my hand, leaving me in only my workout pants. Once that was done, I tossed the cube into Kon's hand saying "Take care of that for me, would you?" before turning to Canary and giving her a hand signal that clearly said _Bring it on_. Several punches were quickly blocked, and then I jumped as she attempted to sweep my legs out, exposing her wound, which I quickly took advantage of by jumping and hitting her on her bandaged arm. When I landed, she was favouring her arm even more. She stared at me in shock, surprised that I would take advantage of the wound. "We did agree on 'no holds barred,' didn't we, Dinah?" My use of her first name shocked her even more, allowing me to get in another strike at her arm and stomach, winding her. When she went to grip her stomach, I brought my elbow sharply down on her back, making her fall to the ground, and the computer announced Black Canary: Fail. "Like I said, defend until you see an opening, then strike. That is the premise behind Soresu fighting."

Kon then challenged Black Canary, claiming that his strength always put the fight on his terms. "And what about those who are stronger than you, Supes, like Mammoth or Blockbuster? Or those who use Kryptonite? Then what?" I asked. Dinah also challenged him by fighting him, but he quickly lost. When he got back up, I advised him "Remember, the greatest weapon in anyone's arsenal is not their strength, speed, or weapons, but their mind. Someone who relies on any of those can be beaten easily by someone who can out_think_ them. Learn to outthink your opponents, and you'll win every time."

Kon was so furious that I'm sure he was about to leave when Batman called. "Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its attackers." Amazo, Ivo's android superhero killer. That was the only thing it could possibly be. "Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved to be disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant. In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android." Dick immediately asked who made it, starting with T O Morrow, the maker of Red Tornado, and suspected builder of Mr Twister. "Good guess, Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo," J'onn said.

"Ivo? But Ivo's dead."

"Are you sure, Kaldur?" I asked. "One of the first things we learned back home was that unless you found a body, then the guy was still alive, and even then you _still_ kept an eye out for him."

Batman continued with our mission assignment. "To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate STAR Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone tries to take the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

I was glad that I had disabled my abilities before my fight with Canary now, as I knew it wouldn't be safe fighting Amazo with them, nor would it be safe fighting him with my normal uniform, so as soon as I recovered it, I immediately changed to a safer one. Fortunately, it would also be useful considering our means of transportation: motorcycles. "Activate uniform JT-R-Red-2-Hood-E0." My usual blue and black uniform changed to a pair of leather jeans, white shirt, and a tough leather jacket, with plenty of toys inside. And protecting my head was a classic black Robin mask, and a featureless, red full-face metal-framed leather mask, with only a pair of slit holes for my eyes. As _he_ said, it made me look like a guy with a motorcycle fetish. Still, better than a flashy maitre de. "Perfect. Whoa!" I wasn't prepared for one change that the mask made: I now sounded exactly like the original owner of this suit, Jason Todd as voiced by Jensen Ackles. "Well, this is interesting."

**Litchfield County-August 3-20:08**

We quickly split into two teams: M'gann, Wally and Kaldur going to Boston, while Kon, Dick and I headed for Manhattan. Dick tried to take Kon's mind off things by coming up with a new definition for aster. Instead of talking about the flower, now it was the opposite of disaster. But Kon didn't respond. "Clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?"

"Canary. I mean, what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super-strength?"

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman, and well, me."

"Yeah, besides, there's always someone stronger than you, Supes," I added in, ignoring their stares at my changed voice. "Sometimes you have to deal with people who are more powerful than even you, or someone who is just as powerful. Remember Blockbuster and Mammoth? Matching strength against strength doesn't always work; you need combat skills as well. Even Superman can't beat everyone through strength alone." Kon just shrugged his shoulders and sped up.

Not long after that, our truck was attacked by robot monkeys. Instantly my mask gained a Heads-Up Display as I pulled out one of the guns and started shooting them. "Torch, watch it! You could kill someone with that!"

"No worries, Rob. Supes is invulnerable and I can't miss. So long as you get the ones on the back, we'll be fine. I'm targeting the ones in the air and on the sides," I told him as I shot monkey after monkey with the machine pistol. Unfortunately, even with them, the monkeys still stole the Amazo pieces. Before they got too far though, I quickly tossed a tracer onto the box, while Kon chased them down the old-fashioned way.

_ Aqualad to Robin, we lost our cargo. Did you-?_

"It's gone, and so is Superboy."

_ Aqualad to Superboy, radio your position, we'll help you._

_** I don't need help. Don't want any!**_

_ Superboy?_

"I think he ditched his comm."

** Super, now we can't even track **_**him**_**.**

_ ~He's out of my telepathic range. This Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?~_

_ Tornado always tells us to take handle things ourselves. And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they are reassembled._

** Well that's a great plan, except for the part about us not knowing where to look!**

_ "No need to worry about that, Impulse. I put a tracker on our case so we can follow them."_

"But that doesn't solve everything. We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked. So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target? Ha! The parts have GPS. The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them using the one I hacked into. Looks like both parts are converging on . . . Gotham City."

_ That far south? M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out._

"Definitely a disaster, heavy on the 'dis.'"

"You can say that again, Dick," I said as we reboarded our bikes and headed down towards Gotham.

**Gotham City-August 3-21:30**

We met up with Impulse after Dick changed into his official uniform. Apparently Wally had the same idea as he "felt naked in civvies. Still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham, but they veered. Wait, dude, they're at my school!" We caught up to Kon and Amazo about twenty minutes later inside the gym of Gotham Academy, where Kon was getting his arse handed to him by the android. Remembering the advice from _Under the Red Hood_, I quickly threw a pair of batarangs at his legs. Once the smoke from the explosion cleared away, I noticed that it had worked perfectly as the leg was stripped down to the metal skeleton. Now it couldn't use Flash's superspeed or Superman's strength (via a small earthquake) against us, not without losing it's legs. In the meantime, Impulse had pulled Kon out of the fight, just barely escaping the twin explosions. Dick threw a batarang at Amazo's head, but he activated J'onn's density shifting, allowing it to pass right through. "Torch, what's the plan?"

"Amazo has the same weaknesses as a human being. Flight gyros in the inner ear, CPU under the brain pan, other sensitive parts replacing the guts," I called out while shooting at the android. Unfortunately Amazo shot back using Captain Atom's radiation beams. Impulse tried hitting him from behind, but the android hit the ground with Dinah's Canary Cry. Kon went at him just as the 'bot activated Superman's strength. Then Dick threw a few more batarangs while I charged at him with a pair of knives. Amazo defended himself against the batarangs, while I managed to hit the flight gyros. It threw me off just before it grabbed Impulse and started crushing him. Just before Wally's back and ribs would have been broken, an arrow appeared, forcing Amazo to use the Manhunter's intangibility, while saving KF at the same time.

Amazo attacked again, throwing Kon into the bleachers with Dinah's martial arts skills, while nearly killing Rob with lasers obviously based on Superman's heat vision. Then something happened, causing Kon to switch his assault from Amazo to Ivo himself. Kon continued the attack, while Dick and Wally followed up. Me on the other hand, I decided to do something else. While my team-mates distracted Amazo by attacking Ivo, I took off my mask and rushed Amazo, quickly closing it on his head. Before the bot could do anything about it, I pulled out the detonator and blew the mask, which took the head with it. The body immediately fell, oil gushing out from what would have been the throat. "Help me disassemble him, now!" Dick called out.

"Don't worry, Rob. Amazo is no threat without his head, trust me. The CPU was there, and without the CPU, no computer can do anything."

Just then, Aqualad and M'gann showed up, with M'gann quickly going to Kon and asking if he was alright. "Fine, feeling the aster."

"I think we all are, Supes," I said, just before Wally noticed that Ivo had disappeared.

**Mount Justice-August 4-01:06-Shade's POV**

This time, I decided to do the debrief while Bruce and Clark had a _very_ long talk concerning Superboy. Really, what was Clark's problem with the boy? Ollie used to call him the world's biggest boy scout, but he sure wasn't acting like it now. As the briefing ended, Kaldur said "The Amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analyzed at the two separate STAR Labs. But Ivo escaped, and as he originated the tech, he is arguably more dangerous than the android."

"Capturing the professor will be a League priority," Dinah responded.

_ "Yes, my wife is already searching for him at our Watchtower. But from what we heard, your mission encountered other . . . complications."_ I looked pointedly at Superboy. _"Complications come with the job, but your ability to handle them has impressed the League."_

"The _whole _League?"

I smiled at Superboy. _"Given time, yes. As we both know, Kryptonians have extremely hard skin, let alone skulls."_ Superboy chuckled at that. _"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help, even if we'd prefer that you handle things on your own. That's why the League exists, so we can help each other solve our problems. Even as powerful as we are, there are problems that we can't solve on our own."_

Dick surprised me then by being sarcastic. "Please, if we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask." He then pulled out a green arrow from underneath his cape. "Look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

_ "But Rob, we didn't follow you."_ Ollie pulled out one of his arrows, which clearly had a different head to the one they found.

"And that's not your arrow. But that means-"

"Speedy!"

"He has our backs."

I immediately found a problem with that idea, admirable though it was. _"I'm sorry, but I don't think so. Roy has always armed himself with red arrows, not green. Someone else was following you."_ Although, we would _definitely_ be looking into this Gothamite archer.

**Siberian Wilderness-Russia-August 7-14:37**

The man appeared in the middle of the Siberian wilderness from nowhere. No tech could make someone appear out of nowhere without a trace, yet this man did. He looked around confused, and glad that the chest piece that powered his light-whips also produced enough heat to keep him warm even on a cold, Siberian night. He would make his way to the nearest village, and then back to America, so he could destroy the man who stole his father's legacy.

**Mount Justice-August 8-16:58**

It was a beautiful summer day in Rhode Island, but only most of Young Justice was enjoying it. Wally had to start school that day in Central City. As for me, I was taking the day to do some work, work that Batman would most definitely _not_ approve of: I was hunting the League of Shadows, and more specifically Talia al Ghul, the daughter of the infamous Ra's al Ghul. Soon I was going to commit one of the three executions that I had decided on before I even left home, and with this one, I would prevent the birth of Damian Wayne, the most irritable Robin in the history of the Bat family. But first, I needed to _find_ the League of Shadows, and I was starting in the one place I knew they had lived: the Himalaya mountains of Tibet.

After finally hacking into a pair of Queen Industries and Wayne Enterprises satellites, I finally found their lair, and quickly noted it's location. When I headed out to the main room, Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen were waiting in costume with Red Tornado and the newly recruited Artemis Crock, who I suspected of being a spy for her father. "What were you doing?" Wayne asked.

Well, time to test out my resistance to the infamous glare. "Working on a report. I applied to go to Gotham Academy once school starts, and they asked me for a report on the Arkham family. You wouldn't happen to have any information on them, would you Bats?"

There was the glare. "We detected a hack into two satellites originating from here. As you were the only one inside today, it must have been you. Why did you hack them?"

"So I could take a close-up look at the Arkham family's most famous or infamous legacy, Arkham Asylum, why?"

"How did you do it?"

"Well now, that's for me to know and you to find out now, isn't it?" Truth was, I used my knowledge of their identities against them-I guessed their passwords: Thomas Wayne and Robert Queen, their fathers. But I had passed the test, I had stood up to the Bat-glare.

By now the rest of the team had shown up and gotten dressed. "Interrogating allies now, B? If you've got a mission for us, I'd really appreciate it if you could get to the briefing and keep my team-mates away from your interrogation methods."

"Thanks, Rob, but I'm fine. Not like I've got much to hide anyway."

I would have gone on, but Wally came in through the teleporter, ready for an evening of relaxation. Artemis immediately joked about his entrance, asking his abilities. "Uh, who is this?"

"Artemis, your new team-mate."

"Kid Flash, never heard of you."

"She's my new protégé," Ollie explained.

"Well, what happened to your old one?"

As if in response to his question, the teleporter activated, announcing _Recognized: Speedy, B06_. "Well, for starters, he doesn't go by 'Speedy' anymore. Call me Red Arrow." I stared at him, his costume was _completely_ different from any I had seen in the comics, yet it somehow suited him.

"Roy, you look-"

"Replaceable."

"It's not like that, you told me you were going solo."

"So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?"

"Yes, _she_ can," Artemis responded. I was certain of that. Sportsmaster would have made certain she could from an early age.

"Who are you?" Wally asked again. Ollie and Artemis answered that she was his niece.

"Huh, I never knew you had any relatives, Arrow," I jutted in.

Ollie just glared at me, while Kaldur said "But she is not your replacement. We have always wanted you on the team, and we have no quota on archers." Wally then implicated that they'd choose him over her every time. He was probably right. As dangerous and rash as I knew him to be, I'd still prefer him over Tigress, _any_ Tigress.

"Whatever, Baywatch. I'm here to stay."

Aqualad ignored the argument and turned to Roy. "You came to us for a reason."

"Yeah, a reason named Dr Serling Roquette." Dick immediately identified her as an expert in nanorobotics and claytronics from Star City that had vanished two weeks ago. "_Abducted _two weeks ago, by the League of Shadows," Roy corrected.

"Wait a minute, you actually want us to go up against the _Shadows?_" I asked. What a great opportunity! Save Dr Roquette _and_ eliminate Talia al Ghul at the same time!

"I already rescued her." _Damn_, I had forgotten about that. "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it the Fog, comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators. Capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But it's true purpose isn't mere destruction. It's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows, providing them with access to weapons, strategic defence, cutting-edge science and tech."

Here, Artemis cut in, saying "Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking. Yeah, sounds like the Shadows." I had to wonder about her knowledge. As far as I knew, Sportsmaster didn't work with the al Ghul's.

Wally scoffed at that. "Yeah, like you know anything about the Shadows. _WHO ARE YOU?"_

"Roquette's working on a virus to render the Fog inert," Roy continued.

Dick immediately realized the implications of that. "But if the Shadows know she can do that-"

"They'll target her. Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab." Ollie seemed shocked that he left Roquette alone. "She's safe enough for now." Ollie then suggested that they work together to keep her safe. "You and I? Don't you want to take your new protégé?"

Ollie was about to continue, but Batman stopped him. "You brought this to the Team. It's their mission, which means it's hers now too." Roy was upset at that and left, but not before updating the computer with his new codename.

We were about to leave for the school when Batman pulled me aside and said "I have a different mission for you." I turned to him in confusion. What kind of mission would he be sending me on? "Starting about three weeks ago, a serial killer showed up in Manhattan, but this one has already killed ten people."

"In other words, he's more prolific than most serial killers," I said. I distinctly remembered that most human serial killers usually took a few months break before killing again. Only Jack the Ripper came even close to killing this many in such a short time.

"Yes. The NYPD hasn't found a trace of the killer yet and they've called for assistance."

"Why us?"

"Because the bodies that they've found are all skeletons."

"Skeletons? Couldn't they be finding old bodies?"

"No. The skeletons are all fresh, and picked clean of anything even remotely resembling flesh, including the marrow. I want you to go and reconnoitre. This is a _reconnaissance _mission only. _Do not_ engage the target _no matter what._ Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." I immediately left for the Zeta-Tube so I could get to New York. _Recognized: Torch, B07_

**Manhattan, New York-August 8-17:45**

The first place I went when I arrived was the nearest NYPD headquarters so I could look at the crime scene photos. Oddly, they looked vaguely familiar, almost as if I had seen something like that before. I had just gone over the last one when my liaison, Detective Seymour Simmons burst in and said "Hey, kid! We've found another victim! It's just outside the Javits Center!"

"Where's that?"

"11th Ave and West 36th." Hell's Kitchen, one of the few places that Spider-Man had never patrolled back on my birth-world. The home territory of Matt 'Daredevil' Murdock, the blind lawyer/vigilante. I immediately followed the cop out to the Javits Center. That was where he found it: a spot of black ooze that most would never take a second glance at. "Hey, kid? Does this mean anything to you."

"Slag it! Don't touch it, detective!" Luckily Simmons pulled back before he could touch the ooze. "Don't let _anybody_ touch that! Get that into some kind of waterproof container. I need to take it to STAR Labs." _Please_ don't let this be what I think it is! "Has this been found at any of the other crime scenes?"

"No, I don't think so. Or at least, nobody reported it."

"Have any of the officers been outing out of character? Say, more arrogant than normal or more aggressive?"

"No, why?" I didn't answer. I was too worried about the sample of ooze to do anything but get to STAR Labs as quickly as possible.

**STAR Labs-Manhattan, New York-August 8-20:27**

Two hours after I arrived, a STAR Labs tech finally returned with the results of the test. "Well, Torch, the results are in, and it appears that the substance is biological, extraterrestrial material. It also seems to be parasitical in nature, it consumes the host if it doesn't feed often enough."

"Slag it! This is not good! Burn that, every piece of it!" I shouted at the techs. My worst fears had nearly been confirmed, but I wasn't going to believe it until I saw the creature with my own eyes. I immediately took off for an area that I knew the creature typical hung out, ignoring the calls of the tech. I also called Simmons. "Detective Simmons, have you been seeing any black webs around the city recently?"

_ "Now that you mention it, kid, yeah, we have. Why?"_

Slag it, it is him! "Have they been showing up in any particular area more than others?"

_ "Yeah, mostly around Central Park and Columbia University, why?"_

"Simmons, tell the others to head to both places and be prepared for a monster. You'll need to be armed with flamethrowers and sound weapons to fight this guy. Also, be careful, this guy is one of the most dangerous villains out there. He's extremely strong, can shoot webs out of his wrists, and has a sixth sense that allows him to avoid danger. Above all _do not_ let any of the suit touch you, burn it all!"

_ "Flamethrowers? Sound weapons? Kid, where do you think you are, Metropolis? We don't have weapons like that?"_

"You don't? Haven't you guys ever dealt with a supervillain threat before?"

_ "No, we haven't."_ Figures, on my earth, Manhattan can't go a week without at least one supervillain attacking, and that's not even counting Hydra, AIM and Kingpin, and had at least six superheroes living there full time. Here, they're completely untouched! _"But how difficult can it be? This guy can't be as bad as say, Parasite, can he?"_

"You have no idea, Simmons. You have no idea." I cut the conversation and focused on an extra burst of speed into the repulsors, shooting straight for Columbia University.

**Columbia University-Manhattan, New York-August 8-20:52**

As soon as I arrived, I got a bit of luck, as I spotted Edward Brock/Venom leaving the prestigious college heading towards Harlem. Even though he was closing in on his sixty-fifth birthday, he only looked like he was in his thirties, an influence of the alien symbiote that had bonded to him. Everyone, even Mr Parker had to admit that the symbiote had it's benefits, but it cost a lot in return. Venom, the actual symbiote, fed on it's host in order to survive, and the host had to become a cannibal to survive. Another downside to having Venom bonded to you was that after as long as Brock had been, if it was removed, he was going to die.

The only question was, how did he end up here? Could it be that Dr Strange didn't close the door? If so, then what kind of ramifications could that have, especially for this world? Well, the only way to get any kind of answers was to interrogate him. I immediately sped up, only stopping when I was in front of him. "Brock, how did you get here?"

"Richards? Great, and here we were hoping to start over." Instantly, his clothes changed into the infamous Venom suit.

"If you wanted to start over, you should have ditched your friend," I said, quickly dodging his webs, while shooting a stream of fire at him.

Venom dodged my flames as best he could, but I still managed to hurt him. "You know we can't do that, even if we wanted to, Richards. If we separate, we both die!"

"Answer the question: how did you get here?!" I demanded as I launched two different attacks at him.

Venom was again injured, but he answered the question. "We don't know how we arrived here. We were escaping the Spider on foot when there was a bright flash of light and we were here, where we knew there was no Spider."

"Thank you, Venom." Great, that meant the gate hadn't closed. Who knew what other villains could be here from home, or who from here ended up back there? In any case, this was my mess, and I had to clean it up. And I would start with Venom. I caught him in one of my force fields, and incinerated the suit.

"What have you done?! I'll die without him!" Brock cried out.

"Then die, Brock. This world has enough problems without you adding to them!" I let him go then, and started back to the Zeta Tube site. I could have sworn that I sensed someone else, but I shrugged it off.

**Mount Justice-August 9-0:35**

By the time Shade had arrived to accept my report, Edward Brock Jr had died after having been away from Venom too long. He was quite shocked when he heard what I'd done. _"Why did you confront him when your orders were observation only?"_

"Because I knew him, Shade. I knew him from _my_ reality. And that man has terrorized New York for more than 30 years and killed more than 150 people _on his own_. It was time that someone put him down, and I've done that."

The mysterious hero studied me hard before saying something. _"You know, two years ago, I had to make a hard choice much like yours. A mad telepath called Brainwave created a dirty bomb that would have destroyed an entire city, making it uninhabitable for generations. I made the hard choice, and was nearly booted out of the League for it. I hate that you had to make the same choice, but from now on, call us if you encounter any more threats from your reality."_

"I'll think about it," I answered before heading to bed.

**Undisclosed Location, New York City-August 9-0:45**

Doctor Arthur Light had just called his superiors, and quickly reported on what had happened in Manhattan. "They seemed to have quite the history between them. Unfortunately, Torch seems to have completely destroyed the symbiote, leaving nothing behind but questions. The one piece of good news is that whatever portal brought them here seems to still be open, we simply need to find a way to track it."

The man simply known as L-1 thought for a moment before realizing _"This portal could be of great use in our recruitment efforts."_

_ "Zat is assuming that those zat are brought through would support us,"_ the clearly French L-6 cautioned.

_ "True,"_ L-3 agreed. _"But think of the power that could be at our disposal. The ability to cross dimensions, and gain unlimited allies. The gains are incalculable."_

_ "Yes, but so are the risks,"_ L-2 noted. _"What if we find not allies, but more enemies, especially enemies on the scale of the Justice League?"_

_ "We shall explore all options,"_ L-1 decided. _"After all, eventually everyone sees the Light."_


End file.
